Solid wood buildings, made of logs or of squared timbers have been in use for centuries. A particular construction of solid wood building, commonly called “piece-en-piece” employs horizontal solid logs or horizontal squared timber members (or alternatively called herein “log members”) stacked vertically between upright timber members. The upper and lower elongated surfaces of each horizontal timber member are flattened. The main advantages of “piece-en-piece” construction is that a) it employs relatively short timbers which are easier to handle than wall-length logs, and b) short timbers of suitable cross-sectional dimensions are more abundant than long timbers of the same cross-sectional dimensions, and c) it requires relatively lower costs in labor, heavy equipment, and specialized skills than many other forms of log construction.
As currently practiced, piece-en-piece log construction requires that vertical tenons be fashioned into the ends of the horizontal log members that comprise a wall section. These tenons engage vertical mortises, or continuous grooves, that are cut into the faces of the upright timbers adjacent to the ends of the horizontal timber members. The mortise-and-tenon construction fulfils two functions: it secures the vertically stacked horizontal timbers from lateral movement, and it permits each horizontal log member to move vertically relative to the upright timbers as needed by shrinkage or settling forces. To set a horizontal log into place, it must be raised to the full height of the upright timber members in order to insert the tenons into the mortises of the upright timbers. Once the tenons are engaged into the mortises, the horizontal timber member is dropped down into position.
It was observed by the inventor that an opportunity exists to reduce manufacturing costs and labor costs for piece-en-piece log construction by means of an innovation in design.
The herein discussed examples of the related art and limitations related thereto are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings.